History of Neonatology

NCT ID: NCT06176950

Last Updated: 2023-12-20

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Total Enrollment: 15 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-10-04
• Study Completion Date: 2028-12-31

Brief Summary

This study traces the history of neonatology in the United States from the 1960s to the present with particular attention to the ways in which neonatologists developed criteria to make treatment decisions. I will be using oral history interviews as one source for a book that will document developments in the history of neonatology. I will identify potential research subjects through their publications in the field of neonatology and through word of mouth. I will locate them via the contact information provided in their publications or through an internet search.

Detailed Description

I will interview individuals who have worked in NICUs [neonatologists, nurses, social workers] to understand how technological changes and changing scientific understanding influenced decision making pertaining to the treatment of infants. The interviews will supplement my extensive research of the medical literature and other pertinent publications.

Between the 1960s and the present, we have seen the emergence of medical therapies and technologies developed to treat neonates. Over this time period, there has also been a changing and growing understanding of the long-term impact that medical interventions have on the infants treated as well as on their families. Finally, the demographic characteristics of neonates have also changed as public health crises as well as the development of modern reproductive technologies led to new patient populations and new expectations of what NICUs should or should not achieve. I am interested in the ways in which these changes have led to evolving treatment criteria for neonates and ways in which neonatologists decided when to treat and when treatment was considered futile. I will interview medical professionals who are working or have worked at NICUs about the changes they experienced in their place of work over the course of their careers, the impact that medical technologies and changing patient populations had on considerations about treatment options, and the discussions they had with colleagues and the parents of patients.

There is to date no sustained historical analysis of neonatology. There are anthropological studies of the development of fetal surgery [Casper 1998] as well as Assisted Reproductive Technologies [Spar, 2006; Thompson, 2005]. There are analyses of the social history of particular medical interventions [abortion, birth control, etc.] [Schoen, 1995; Schoen 2005] and the treatment of the fetus [Withycombe, 2019]. And scholars have discussed the value of reproduction and the fetus as it pertains to emerging technologies of genetic testing and the history of disability [Davis, 2019; Herzog, 2018; Lowy, 2018; Maienschein, 2003; Maienschein, 2014; Rapp, 2000; Reagan, 2010.] This study will contribute to our understanding of the ways in which medical professionals have made decisions about life, death, and the quality of life of those being treated.

Conditions

Oral History

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: OTHER
• Study Time Perspective: OTHER

Interventions

Oral History Interviews

I will ask interview subjects about their educational and career path, their research interests and clinical work in the field of neonatology. I will also ask them about their personal and professional motivations and thoughts about their work. And we will discuss how their interactions with colleagues and patients/caregivers shaped their work experience and decision making.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

-

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Johanna Schoen, PhD

Professor of History

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Johanna Schoen, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Johanna Schoen

Locations

Rutgers University

New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Johanna Schoen, PhD

Role: CONTACT

johanna.schoen@rutgers.edu

7347573376

Facility Contacts

Johanna Schoen, PhD

Role: primary

johanna.schoen@rutgers.edu

734-757-3376

Other Identifiers

Pro2021000877

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id